Can we trust Dr Luttwak, adviser to the U.S. government, when he tells us “The truth about global oil supply”?

By Kjell Aleklett, originally published by ASPO

September 7, 2005

On 17 August 2005, Energy Bulletin published an excerpt from an article titled, “The truth about global oil supply”. The author was Dr. Edward N. Luttwak and he claimed that “the world isn’t short of oil – and the price will go down, not up”.

I got interested in the article when I found out that Dr Luttwak worked for CSIS, the Center for Strategic and International Studies and has served as a consultant to the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the National Security Council, U.S. Department of State and that he also is a member of the National Security Study Group of the U.S. I made the assumption that the opinions he put forward in the article probably was the same advises that he gave the government of U.S.

A decided analysis was needed and I also asked Matthew Simmons about his opinions about the article. My conclusion is that the U.S. government probably needs another adviser than Dr Luttwak. The analysis can be found on ASPO’s web site, www.peakoil.net/Luttwak.html .

Kjell Aleklett

Kjell Aleklett is Professor of Physics at Uppsala University in Sweden where he leads the Uppsala Global Energy Systems Group (UGES). He holds a doctorate in nuclear physics from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, and worked as a postdoctoral fellow and staff scientist from 1977 to 1985 at the Natural Science Laboratory at Studsvik, Sweden.

Together with Colin Campbell he organised the First International Workshop on Oil Depletion in May 2002 at Uppsala University. It was in connection with this workshop that ASPO, the Association for the Study of Peak Oil & Gas, was established. Since 2003 he has been president of ASPO International.

Tags: Education, Fossil Fuels, Geopolitics & Military, Oil

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